A language learners’ forum

When you go to a major tourist area, you count the number of foreign languages you hear. And you follow one group around for a while because you're having trouble deciding whether they are speaking German or Dutch.


Also, when you see someone speaking a language you don't recognize, you ask them which it is so you can add it to the list of languages to learn.

Ogrim wrote:When you are at a cash machine in Valencia, Spain, which gives you the option to choose between seven languages (Spanish, Catalan, Valencian, Basque, English, French, German), and you spend so long wondering which language to choose that your timed out and your card is returned.

When the second time you try, you quickly choose Valencian, withdraw your money, and then put the card back in a third time to choose Catalan, just to see what the difference is between the instructions in Valencian and Catalan.

Likewise when you get a new bottle of shampoo, spending 10 minutes reading all the languages out loud. Or better yet AN IKEA INSTRUCTION MANUEL. They have absolutely everything, even CA French vs EU.

tacerto1018 wrote:Likewise when you get a new bottle of shampoo, spending 10 minutes reading all the languages out loud.

Yes! You know you were already a language nerd as a child when, as an adult, you still remember what the backs of your parents' shampoo bottles said in languages you did not then speak.

It was a revelation to me as a young adult when it dawned on me that 'The Best a Man Can Get', 'För män som väljer rätt' and 'Parasta miehelle' did not all mean the same thing...

... When you present someone with a list of reasons why learning Kazakh would be a good idea.
... You're having a written conversation in Portuguese, despite having never studied Portuguese.
... You happen to know of a university in your country which offers courses in Estonian.
... You're trying to decide where you want to study abroad in Italy, and part of what impacts your decision is proximity to Switzerland, so you could hop on a northbound train to go buy some Romansh books.
... All five of the courses you're taking at uni are languages, and yet you're still trying to teach yourself another on the side.
... You regularly try to read Dante en VO despite having just started Italian in June.
... You regularly have to stop and think about how to pronounce the character <H>.

PfifltriggPi wrote:... All five of the courses you're taking at uni are languages, and yet you're still trying to teach yourself another on the side.

Reminds me of one of my classmates in my college German class who said he was studying 7 languages. It sounded very impressive at the time.

... you yell at your kids in one language and they try to placate you in another.

(Children for sale, used but batteries still working.)

You do cloze tests in a bunch of different languages for fun or even know what a cloze test is.

You want to stay longer at Romano's Macaroni Grill because they teach Italian phrases over the sound system in the restroom.

Teango wrote:You want to stay longer at Romano's Macaroni Grill because they teach Italian phrases over the sound system in the restroom.

"Your Honour, I was loitering for educational purposes."

...You evaluate the quality of an instruction manual insert by how many languages it has.

...You discover that an insert has instructions both in American English and British English, and you spend several minutes comparing the two.

...You know which coworkers would also be fascinated, and give them the inserts for their enjoyment.